Thursday, December 02, 2004

Preachers Criticized: Majid Ansari

Majid Ansari
TEHRAN, Sept. 21--Some religious preachers and orators are propagating false and superstitious ideas during ceremonies marking religious occasions, a member of the Experts Assembly and former Tehran MP Majid Ansari said.
Addressing the 12th session of the Experts Assembly late Monday, Ansari said elegies and eulogies are often filled with unrealistic and superficial remarks, which distort the religion and weaken people's faith, IRNA reported.
"Their remarks and verses are at times stained with fallacy and nonsense," he said.
Ansari noted that public trust in the clergy was the main driving force behind the victory of the Islamic Revolution.
"It is vital that clerics maintain and strengthen people's trust in them," he said.
Another assembly member, Hojjatoleslam Vafi, referred to news of spreading drug addiction and rampant smuggling and said officials and religious scholars should deal with the issue as a social and ethical affliction.
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